A San Rafael man was charged with animal cruelty Thursday for allegedly abusing two Chihuahuas, including one whose cries of pain prompted a resident to rush from her home to intercede.

Police said the incident occurred Wednesday evening in the area of Merrydale Road, where Alex Dillion Maertz was out with his eight-pound dog Isabella and a four-pounder named Lily.

Jennifer Parker, who lives nearby, said she had just finished making dinner when she heard a man yelling outside and the sound of an animal wailing.

She said she ran outside in bare feet and an apron to see Maertz squeezing one of the Chihuahuas while screaming at her and apparently biting her. The dog was struggling and biting his bloodied face, while the other dog was on the ground with a leash trailing behind.

As witnesses came out of the nearby Gaspare’s Pizzeria, Parker confronted the man and told him to surrender the dog. The man allegedly picked up the other dog and squeezed it too, then dropped one of the dogs on her back on the pavement.

Parker, a 43-year-old hospital assistant, said she coaxed Maertz to sit down so she could check his and the dogs’ injuries. A county employee who passed by agreed to call 911, and San Rafael police arrived a short time later.

Parker said Maertz was covered in feces, had a bite mark on his lip and was bleeding from the face. Isabella was suffering from facial abscesses.

Parker wrapped Isabella in her apron and a neighbor, Khryste Ranghiasci, brought a blanket for the dog.

Maertz, whom police described as itinerant, was arrested on suspicion of animal cruelty and public intoxication, said police spokeswoman Margo Rohrbacher. The dogs were turned over to the Marin Humane Society and taken to a pet hospital.

Their condition was not available Thursday afternoon.

“Seeing stuff like that makes me mad,” Parker said. “It’s almost as disgusting as molesting a child. The animals can’t speak, just like a little kid. Somebody’s got to intervene.”

The district attorney’s office filed charges against Maertz on Thursday, and he remained in custody in lieu of $20,000 bail. —— (c)2014 The Marin Independent Journal (Novato, Calif.) Visit The Marin Independent Journal (Novato, Calif.) at www.marinij.com

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